Episode 16: Maziar Bahari

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson. In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick. In this episode I interview Maziar Bahari, an Iranian Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist who was imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian government for five months in 2009. After he was released, he wrote his memoir called "Then They Came for Me", which became a New York Times bestseller and is the basis for Jon Stewart's 2014 film "Rosewater". In the conversation I ask him why, even though he is not a Baha'i, he has been actively campaigning for the rights of the Baha'is in Iran. We talk about his religious background; his thoughts on tyranny; why the situation for Baha'is in Iran is so important for the Iranian people as a whole, and how he went from being a journalist to being an activist. He shares what he learned from his experience in prison, and he also offers some personal advice to the Baha'i community, and a message to the people of Iran and the world. To find out more about Maziar Bahari, what he's involved in, and some of the things we covered in the podcast, check out the following links: * The Baha'is are the largest religious minority in Iran, and they have been killed and persecuted by the Iranian government ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. You can find out more about the situation of the Baha'is in Iran from this page on the Baha'i International Community's website: https://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation * Find out more about the "Education Is Not A Crime" campaign and initiative, plus how you can get involved here: www.notacrime.me * Watch the trailer to the new documentary "Changing the World, One Wall at a Time" about the wall art campaign here: https://vimeo.com/214890238 * Purchase physical or audio versions of Maziar's book "Then They Came for Me" (now called 'Rosewater') here: http://amzn.to/2qcB2De * Watch the trailer to the movie "Rosewater" based on the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGOYHIqmmiM * Watch the trailer to Maziar's documentary about the underground Baha'i universities in Iran "To Light A Candle" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7aE27GyMMo Be sure to ‘subscribe’ to the Baha’i Blogcast for more weekly episodes on: *iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/bahai-blogcast-rainn-wilson/id1127132519 *Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-545312385 You can also stream the Blogcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ALg4rMvcNaQfGJUqD3pLK Thanks for listening! -Rainn Wilson